Section 17 in Punjab National Bank Officer Employees’ (Discipline & Appeal) Regulations, 1977
17. Appeals:
(1)An Officer employee may prefer an appeal to the Appellate Authority within forty five days from the date of receipt of the order imposing upon him any of the penalties specified in regulation 4 or against the order of suspension referred to in regulation 12:Provided that the Appellate Authority may entertain the appeal after the expiry of the said period, if it is satisfied that the appellant had sufficient cause for not preferring the appeal in time.(2)The appeal shall be presented to Appellate Authority with a copy being forwarded by the appellant to the authority which made the order appealed against. It shall contain all material statements and arguments on which the appellant relies but shall not contain any disrespectful or improper language, and shall be complete in itself.(3)The authority which made the order appealed against shall, on receipt of a copy of the appeal from the appellant, forward the same with its comments thereon together with the relevant records to the Appellate Authority within a period not exceeding forty five days from the date of the receipt of the appeal.(4)The Appellate Authority shall on receipt of the comments and records of the case from the authority whose order is appealed against, consider whether the order of suspension/findings are justified or whether the penalty is excessive or inadequate and pass appropriate orders. The Appellate Authority may pass an order confirming, enhancing, reducing or setting aside the penalty/suspension or remitting the case to the authority which imposed the penalty or to any other authority with such directions as it may deem fit in the circumstances of the case.Provided that:(i)If the enhanced penalty, which the Appellate Authority proposed to impose is a major penalty specified in clause (f), (g), (h), (i) and (j) of regulation 4 and an enquiry a provided in regulation 6 has not already been held in the case, the Appellate Authority shall direct that such an enquiry be held in accordance with the provisions of regulation 6 and thereafter consider the record of the enquiry and pass such orders as it may deem proper;(ii)If the Appellate Authority decides to enhance the punishment but an enquiry has already been held as provided in regulation 6, the Appellate Authority shall give a show cause notice to the officer employee as to why the enhanced penalty should not be imposed upon him and shall pass final order after taking into account the representation, if any, submitted by the officer employee.(5)The Appellate Authority shall dispose of the appeal within a period of ninety days from the date of its receipt from the appellant:Provided that the time limit specified in this regulation shall not apply to cases having a vigilance angle and where major/minor penalty proceedings against the officer employee have commenced on recommendations of the Police or Central Bureau of Investigation or Central Vigilance Commission, as the case may be, investigating the matter.(6)The case lying pending over ninety days shall be reviewed periodically by the Appellate Authority and reasons for non-disposal of the case shall be recorded in writing.
